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Origin of the Reiki characters

The Reiki characters and its origin

The Reiki characters are originally from China, actually from Daoism. There is the philosophical Daoism, of which, for example, the Book of Changes called ‚I Ging‘ is known. This is an ancient wisdom book of Divination (predicting the future). In addition, there is the shamanic magic Daoism, from which, for example, Feng Shui, Qigong and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has developed.

The Reiki characters thus go back to a long tradition of the development of Chinese writing. Originally, the Chinese script was not developed to write words, but to perform shamanic rituals.

For example, on the basis of fortune-telling, individual signs were written on a turtle’s shell or on bones along with a map. A king could ask, for example, if it makes sense and what the result will be if he goes with his troops across a river and attacks the neighboring kingdom. The turtle shell was then placed in the fire as part of a ritual. This caused cracks in the shell. Depending on where these cracks appeared, conclusions about the future event could be derived. If the rift went through one’s own land, the king knew that it was better not to attack.

Each character is an icon or image of an object or phenomenon from nature such as animals, plants, house, forest, tree, mountain, human, sky, earth, river and so on. These original signs are still used today and in some of them their original form and meaning can be seen, even if one does not know the sign itself.

Over time, these basic signs were combined. So everyone got their own story. Even the Reiki characters have their own past. All of these are listed in Chinese and Japanese Dictionaries.

In the course of Daoist rituals, which are also referred to as sandbox rituals, it came to writing a holy text. As part of these rituals, a square sandpit was set up in the middle of a room with tables along the walls. Writing utensils of calligraphy lay on these tables in order to write down signs and texts. As part of a ritual, a Daoist priest was led into a trance state. He got a long staff in his hand, with which he wrote characters in the sand. During the ritual one got the impression that the priest himself was seized by the staff. As if a force were directing his body, which wrote the signs in the sand. As a result, characters quickly emerged in the sand. These were written down immediately and later transferred unadulterated. Several people wrote the same to compare if there was a mistake somewhere. In this process, new character combinations could arise.

Through this process of creation, the texts and signs were given a mystical depth and a force that always becomes noticeable when one writes the corresponding sign meditatively and in its original form. The same applies to the Reiki characters and symbols.

When the Indian Sanskrit Sutras of Buddhism came to China in the third century, they were immediately translated into Chinese. As far as the spiritual alarm clock is concerned, they used the Daoist and Confucian vocabulary. With the introduction of Buddhism in Japan in the sixth century, the Chinese script was also introduced at the same time. Japan did not have its own script to date.

What is the history of Reiki characters

As far as the Reiki characters are concerned, they are composed of the characters Rei and Ki. Based on the breakdown of each character, the deep meaning and true history of Reiki characters can be seen. Extensive explanations can also be found in the Chinese and Japanese dictionaries. Therefore, there is little room for your own interpretations. Since the characters were taken over from China, one speaks today in Japan also of Chinese characters. The Japanese word for it is kanji.

The Kanji Rei

Rei is an old sign of rain magic. It shows a shaman praying for rain. This is how it is described in the Japanese dictionaries. If you look it up in a English-Japanese dictionary, it means spiritual, mystical or spirited. However, it is not yet clear what kind of spirit is meant. Therefore, an intense study of the origin of this sign is extremely valuable to find out much about the nature of Reiki.

The upper part means rain. Described by a cloud of raindrops that can be recognized by the four points. Below that there are three times the sign for mouth in a row. A mouth represents a word. Two mouths are a conversation and three mouths a prayer. Below is the sign for shaman. This again consists of several components. Lying H is nowadays used in the word ‚industry‘ because something that gives energy is taken out of the earth. The same-looking components in the horizontal H are two humans touching the earth. Thus, people who touch the earth and extract something from it, which gives energy and strength, are shamans. Here shows the connection between Reiki and shamanism.

In a nutshell, the Kanji Rei can be described as a shaman asking for rain.

In addition, there is another explanation. There is a kanji made up of rain and three mouths. This is very rare and is no longer used today. The mouths should represent raindrops. The raindrops and the rain in this explanation result in the seamlessly stringed together drops of water. These carry the blessings of heaven and the sun over the water they have charged, down to earth. Below this is again a shaman performing a ritual that this can happen.

Now, rain is not always meant as just water, but rather a blessing coming down from heaven to earth. In the same way, from heaven comes the power of man (shaman), who transmits that power through himself and transmits it to the earth and its inhabitants.

The Kanji Ki

Ki is the oldest sign of life energy. This sign also consists of two components. The upper part with the curved arch just means energy. Depending on which other sign energy is combined, the quality of the energy itself results. For example, if the kanji for raindrops is placed in front of this kanji, it is water vapor power. If this in turn combined with the kanji for cars or carts, then it is a steam locomotive. Yes, in this case, you can find itsself in the second component, which stands for rice grain. The grain of rice is the germ of life, but not life itself. Thus, this is a symbol of life. In combination with energy, it is life energy.

What ist the meaning of Reiki?

When the two kanji are combined, one comes to the translation ’spiritual life energy‘ for Reiki.